OFFICE OF THE AITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Lee Bredy, Comaleeloner, 

Department of Banking 

Austin, Texas 

We beg to ackno 0r,your letter 0r 

October 0, 1940, ue 

r exeminaThe dlrrlculty 

the cfflce. 

the plan of this DeDartment that 

lssloner, Decs,rtmentel Exeminer 

Loan %:Dervlsor will actively 

in the act,.;al exeminetlon of banks 

and building and. loan associations wtienever 

their suocrvisory d-ties will ?ernit. 

"Your attention Is dlrected to the ract 

that under the current apcroorlatlon bill there 

1s a prcvislon for the poslticn o? 'bookkeeper 

and bond clerk'. This Tosltlon is new f?lled 
Hon. Lee Brady, Page 2 

by a man who was rormerly an arRlctent examine*. 

It is our hope that by reorganizing hla work he 

Will be able, not onby to perform the duties 

of his Doeltlon, but will have some time available for other work. It has been suggested thet 

he could beet be used ln assisting either the 

Deputy Commlreloner, Departmental Examiner, or 

Bulldlng and Loan Supervisor, when thore tmploytea art actively engaged In examinationa, by 

ptrronnlng a part of the detall work in connection with the examlnatlon. At times it may 

be desirable to have this employee assist the 

field examlntrs, his use being governed by the 

requirements of the tioment. Naturally, if thf6 

employee 1s to be used as above suggested it 

will be necessary that he trevtl. Before putting this plah o? operation into effect I would 

llkt to eubmlt to you the following question: 

*Can the State pay the travel expenses of 

the bookkeeper and bond oltrk of this Department when he Ie traveling in, connection wlth 

the work as above outllntd?’ 

A rider attached to the Departmental Appropriatlon Bill by the 45th Legislature (General Laws, 1937, p. 

1491).provIded for transfer of employees, as follows: 

#It shall be the duty of the head of 

any department to transfer an employee of 

his orflce to any desk or place within the 

department ,when necessary to perform the 

duties of the department, snd for the.proper dlsoatch of buslnesf.’ 

This rider was omitted from the Appropriation 

El11 nassed by the 46th Legislature. 

We understand from your letter, however, that 

you do not ccntemolate a trensfer of an employee but 

rather you contemolate utll1zir.g R cart of the bookkeecer sr,d bond clerk’s time to el3. the reg2ila.r excminerz ?n 

their work; that the ssl;?ry of the bookkeeper and bored 
Hon. Lee Brsdy - Page 3 

clerk ~111 be paid as in the Approprlatlon Bill conttmplated, but that hla travellng expenses alone are wlthin the ecopt of your Inquiry. 

Ii the question of traveling txptneee of the 

bookkeeper-bond clerk were not Involved, the question 

propounded by you would undoubtedly be oontrolled by 

our holding in Oplnlon No. 04139, wherein It was aald: 

‘The above-quoted rider on salary payments (The 1937 Approprlatlon Bill) doe6 not 

prohibit a servlct or duty, but It requires 

that he actually perform the duties for which 

he 1s pald, If he perform6 the duties for 

which he 16 being paid, and Is able, in addition thereto, to a6616t other ntot66ary 

activities of the department, we find nothIng in the bill which would prevent the dtpartmtnt heed from 60 directing. It is common knowledge that the volume of work on 

various desks in the dirrtrtnt department6 

fluctuates from time to tlmt, and we do not 

thlnk It wae the intention of the Ltglrlature 

to prohibit the head of a department from dlrtcting an employee to perform additional duties or asslet with other work where the clrcumetancee require. Thle 16 a eltuatlon to 

which the rule of reason must be applltd." 

Item 7 under the heading of Loan and Brokerage 

Division (1mDroperly placed, apparently,) of the current 

approprlatlon for the State Banking Department Is as follows: 

“Traveling expense, Banking Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $19,000.00." 

In the very nature of this Item it contemslE.tes 

oayaent of the trsvel exgenet of eny person belonging tc 

the Banking Deoertment necessarily Incurred in trznrectlng State bueiness connected with that department. We 

think the Appropriation Act ltselr should be liberally 

construed with a view to effectuating the purpose6 for 

which the Leglsleture thus made prevision. Much 1s left, 

of course, to the sound, offlclel discretion of the 98nk- 
Hon. Let Brady - page 4 

Ing Commlesloner as to when such travel txpenet Ir 

necessary or proper. When, however, he determiner 

In the txtrclee of that sound, offlclal dlecrttlon 

that a given strvlce and the lncldental travel txpenat connected therewith art ntcersary in the perrof?nanct of hl6 official duties, and he la able and 

wllllng to make the necessary affidavit that the 

services have been perrozbtd, or more expllcltly, 

that the expense har been incurred In the prostoutlon or State busInt8s by,tht employee or hi6 departnent, the lttm may properly be paid rrom the 

traveling expense approprleted in Item 7 above. 

The ImmtdIatt cast unmistakably rhows a 

moet commendable purpose on your part, as Baaklng 

Commlrsloner, to conserve the services of the employtt6 now in the department, and to obtain the 

maxlmum strvlce from each, In the most economical 

method available. This purpose 16 not only commtndable but well within the splrlt of the law. 

Truetlng that this will have answered your 

lnqulry, we are 

Very truly your8 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

0 9-m 

BY (6lgntd) 

Ocle Speer 

ASSiSte~nt 

AF:ROVED NCA’ 1, 1940 

Gersld C. Mann [s/ 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS